Читать книгу The Shadowmagic Trilogy - John Lenahan - Страница 18

Araf and Fergal were waiting for us in the hallway. We followed Essa down a narrow stairway that was concealed behind a tapestry. With every step the smell of horses became stronger. A short passageway led to a bale of hay that we pushed aside, and we found ourselves in the stables.

Gerard and Dahy were almost finished saddling the horses. Let me tell you – the horses in The Land are just huge! I had no idea how I would even get up on one of those guys, let alone ride it. The thought terrified me.

Gerard bid Fergal and Araf goodbye and then gave me a hug so he could whisper in my ear. ‘When you see your mother and father, tell them they are welcome here. Take care of yourself, son of Duir, and take care of my daughter.’

‘Yes, sir, and thank you.’

Dahy presented me with a knife. ‘It is a throwing dagger,’ Dahy said. ‘The gold tip assures that it hits its target. Only use it as a last resort. Remember, when you throw a weapon, your enemy can pick it up and throw it back. It’s bad form to be killed by your own knife.’

That was Dahy’s idea of a joke. I smiled, bowed and stashed the knife in my sock.

‘OK,’ I said, ‘how do you get up onto one of these monsters?’

Essa broke off from her goodbye embrace with her father and said, ‘You don’t know how to ride? I don’t believe it!’

‘Maybe I should have a T-shirt with I CAN’T RIDE printed on it. That way it won’t come as a shock to everyone that finds out around here.’ Araf pointed to a horse to my left. ‘Is this one mine?’

He nodded. I examined the magnificent stallion. He was light grey with a wild white mane. As I craned my head back I wondered if I would actually be able to make it all the way up to the saddle.

‘Don’t you have any ponies? I rode a pony once at a birthday party.’

Araf interlaced his fingers together to give me a step up. I put my foot in his cupped hands and he hoisted me up over his head. I had an inkling that Araf was strong but I didn’t realise just how strong. He damn near threw me over the beast without the slightest hint of effort! I arrived on top of my horse and unceremoniously hung onto its neck until I got some semblance of cool.

‘Does he have a name?’

‘Acorn,’ Gerard replied, and smiled at me. ‘From a tiny acorn grows a mighty oak. He belonged to my son. Acorn here wandered back from the Hazellands after it was destroyed. He is the only thing to have made it out of there alive.’

I patted the enormous neck in front of me. ‘Well, Acorn, you and me are going to be pals – right?’

Acorn turned his head and gave me a look with a plum-sized black eye that I unmistakably read as – ‘We’ll see.’

A servant appeared and informed us that Cialtie’s entourage would be arriving at first light – in about half an hour. Gerard and Dahy pushed aside a wall of hay bales, revealing a back door.

‘Do you have any advice on riding this thing?’

‘Hold on,’ Araf said, and started through the door.

Acorn seemed happy to follow the other horses, which was fine with me. I leaned down and whispered in his ear, ‘You just follow those guys and we’ll be OK.’

He gave me a snort, as if to say, ‘Don’t tell me my business.’

Even though the doorway was massive, I still had to duck as I went through. My confidence level was low. I couldn’t help thinking what a long drop it was going to be when I fell off this monster. The back exit of the stables led almost directly into a path cut through a field of towering grain. We didn’t have to hurry – the vegetation hid us completely. Just when I thought this horse riding lark wasn’t too bad, the horses broke into a trot. Never in my life have I ever been bounced around so much. I figured another ten minutes of this would ensure that I never had an heir.

‘Is riding supposed to be this uncomfortable?’ I asked Araf with a jiggling voice that came out higher than normal.

‘Stand up in your stirrups every three gaits,’ he said.

I did, and what a difference it made. I got into the rhythm of the strides and started feeling like a rider.

We rode silently in single file for about an hour. I was behind Fergal, Essa was in the lead and Araf brought up the rear. The sun was fully up when we cleared the field. We entered a vast open meadow dotted with two-hundred-foot spire-like poplar trees. The land was green and rolling, a vast emerald carpet scattered with massive poplar exclamation marks. Essa gave what I now know is a hand signal and all of the horses broke into a canter – including Acorn. I grabbed the reins for support and Acorn ground to a halt, pitching me over his head. I flew butt over noggin and landed on the grass – still holding the reins. Luckily the grass was as soft as a gymnastics mat and I hurt nothing. It was probably the first time that I learned a lesson in The Land without pain. An upside-down Acorn gave me a look of pity. The company turned around and rode back.

‘Don’t say anything, Araf,’ I said, ‘let me guess. If you pull the reins the horse stops, right?’

‘Everyone knows that!’ Fergal said.

‘Including me – now,’ I said, slowly standing.

After two tries at remounting Acorn I said, ‘Why don’t these things come with ladders?’

Araf dismounted and helped me up. Essa warned me this time and we all broke into a canter. Compared to trotting, cantering is a breeze. My back and arms fell into rhythm with Acorn. I was so delighted with myself I let out a ‘YEE-HA!’ I think a few trees gave me a dirty look. Fergal wanted to know why I shouted. I told him that it was the kind of thing that cowboys did.

‘Are they boys that look like cows or cows that look like boys?’ he asked.

‘Never mind, just try it – it feels good.’

He let out a pretty good ‘YEE-HA!’ for a beginner.

Essa pulled up next to us. ‘If you insist on letting the entire land know where you are, I’ll be leaving now.’

Fergal and I looked at each other like naughty schoolboys. When she was out of earshot we both let loose with a very quiet ‘yee-ha’ in defiance.

The sun was low in the sky by the time Essa decided to stop. ‘We’ll make camp here,’ she said. ‘Araf and I will double-check the maps and get some food ready. Fergal, you tend the horses. Conor, go ask for firewood.’

Everyone dismounted except me. ‘I can’t move,’ I said.

Fergal laughed and Essa told me to stop acting the fool, but I really couldn’t move. I hurt in places I didn’t even know I had places. We had ridden all day. I was exhausted. After the poplar meadow, all that I really remember of the ride was not stopping for lunch. We begged apples from a particularly unpleasant apple tree (a crab apple maybe) and ate them on horseback. Fergal complained all afternoon. I joined him, but after a while I was so tired, it was painful even to speak. The countryside was a blur after that.

I looked around to find that everyone had left. ‘I’m not kidding,’ I moaned, ‘I really can’t get off of this thing.’ I flopped forward and dropped my arms around Acorn’s neck. ‘You wouldn’t do me a favour by any chance,’ I whispered in his ear, ‘you wouldn’t mind crouching down so I could roll off?’

It was meant to be a joke but Acorn did just that! He dropped to his front knees, then his back and then laid his belly on the ground. My stirrups almost touched the ground. With a monumental effort, I hoisted my leg over and flopped face first in the grass. I lifted my head and looked at my new best friend. ‘Thank you, Acorn. I owe you one.’ He stood up and went to find his fellow horses.

My legs were killing me. All of the hairs on the inside of my thighs had been rubbed out of my skin, which was turning the colour of a Caribbean sunset. After taking my trousers down for a look, I didn’t have the strength to pull them back on. I flopped on my back and instantly fell into a dreamless sleep. It was in this unseemly position that the rest of the group found me – asleep on my back with my trousers at my ankles. Fergal told me later that he tried to wake me up but I just babbled. I didn’t open my eyes until it was dark and the smell of food hit me.

Dinner was beans around a fire. Essa ate, then walked off by herself. Araf handed me a cup of much-needed willow tea. ‘If I could get some of this tea back to the Real World,’ I said, ‘I could make a fortune.’

‘The Real World?’ Fergal said. ‘You’re from the Real World?’

Me and my big mouth. ‘Yes, I am.’

‘So that’s why you say so many stupid things.’

‘I don’t say stupid things.’

‘You do,’ Fergal said, flashing a smile that seemed to light up the place. ‘Is that why you want to see Deirdre, to help you get back?’

‘That’s part of it. I really can’t tell you the rest – sorry.’

‘That’s OK. Can you tell me about the Real World? What’s it like?’

‘Some of it is like here, only not as vivid. Compared to The Land, the Real World seems to have a thin veil of grey over everything.’

‘Sounds awful.’

‘Sometimes it is – but it’s my home, or at least was – and no one ever tried to kill me there.’

‘I didn’t try to kill you!’ Fergal protested.

‘I didn’t mean you.’

‘Who else has tried to kill you?’

‘It’s a long list.’

‘Conor,’ Araf said, and I jumped. The guy is so quiet, you forget that he is there. ‘If you have enemies, your travelling companions should know about it.’

He had a point. ‘OK, two people have tried to kill me – Cialtie and Nieve.’

‘Cialtie and Nieve,’ Araf repeated, ‘this is not good. Why do they want to kill you?’

I searched for a lie to keep them happy but couldn’t do it – I had to trust these guys. I just hoped they weren’t big prophecy fans. ‘Because Deirdre is my mother.’

For the first time, probably in history, Araf looked startled. ‘Who is your father?’

Before I could answer we heard the whinny of horses and a cry for help – it was Essa. I grabbed my stick and leaped to my feet. We found her with her banta stick drawn, standing between the horses and four wild boars. I had never seen a live boar before but I am certain that the ones in the Real World are nowhere near as big as these boys. They had Essa surrounded and looked mean. I was shocked to see Fergal and Araf walk up to them like they were puppies. One turned and charged at Fergal, four hundred pounds of flesh pushing two enormous tusks, hurtling towards him, and he just stood there, like a rabbit caught in headlights. I dived and pushed him out of the way, almost getting clobbered myself.

‘What is the matter with you?’ I screamed as we both clambered to our feet.

‘What’s the matter with me? What’s the matter with the boar?’

We circled over to Essa.

‘I have never seen anything like this,’ she said. ‘Something is very wrong with these animals.’

‘What do you normally do when a boar attacks?’ I whispered.

‘Boars don’t usually attack,’ she said. ‘This is a very bad sign.’

‘Shoo!’ Araf said, waving his hands and walking towards the biggest one of them. ‘Go home!’

I was a bit jealous that Araf was having a longer conversation with this pig than he had ever had with me. Suddenly the boar charged him. Amazingly Araf stood his ground and with the reflexes of a cat, grabbed the boar’s tusks and twisted. The two of them rolled once and came up on their feet. Araf skidded backwards then found footing on a tree root and held fast. I have never seen such a display of strength.

As I marvelled, the boar that had attacked Fergal charged back for a second shot at him. Fergal legged it into the night. I would have helped him but the remaining two animals simultaneously came at Essa and me. Now I understood why Fergal had frozen. Forget horror movies, if you really want a fright that will soil your trousers, then stand in front of a charging boar. It’s amazing how fast your mind can work when you are about to be gored. The first thing I hoped was that I was somehow related to the charging swine, then I remembered an old history lesson that mentioned how people in medieval Europe used to hunt boar. They would plant the end of a sharp stick in the ground and wait for the animal to charge. If they got it right, the boar impaled itself – if not, the hunter was the one that got run through.

This animal was almost on me. I dropped to one knee, planted the base of my stick in the ground, aimed the knob of my staff just below the neck and ducked my head. I got lucky. If I hadn’t hit directly in the centre of its chest the stick would have glanced off and I would be singing soprano in the boys’ choir. Amazingly my aim was true and that sucker was actually launched over my head! Its back hoof clipped me on the forehead as it went over, but other than that I was unharmed. My hazel stick bent but it held and pole-vaulted a very surprised creature sideways into a tree. It ran off, squealing into the night like a frightened piglet.

I didn’t have time to gloat – Essa was in trouble. She had lost her stick and was down on her side, and her attacker was preparing for a killer charge. There was no way I was going to cover the distance between us in time to help. I reached into my sock and threw Dahy’s dagger just as the boar began to move. I swear that knife swerved with the movement of the animal and stabbed it in the neck – right up to the hilt. It literally stopped it dead.

Essa had been winded by her own staff as she tried to block the first charge, but she hadn’t been gored. Araf’s opponent just gave up and ran away – smart animal. Fergal returned with a flaming branch from the fire that he had used to frighten his pursuer away.

Essa got slowly to her feet and looked at the dead animal. ‘You shouldn’t have killed it,’ she said.

‘Excuse me, didn’t you mean to say, “Thank you, Conor, for saving my life”?’

‘We don’t kill animals in The Land without their permission.’

‘I didn’t see the boar asking you if you wanted to be turned into a pegboard!’

‘Nevertheless, you shouldn’t have killed it.’ She placed her hands on the dead hulk and mumbled a prayer.

‘I can’t believe this. I thought you might at least be grateful enough to maybe not want me dead.’

‘She wants you dead too?’ Fergal said. ‘What is going on?’

It was moment of truth time.

‘My father is Oisin – OK?’

‘You are the son of the one-handed prince?’ Araf said.

‘Yes, I am.’

Araf raised his banta stick and came at me.